LOCALity Column

With Ruth O'Brien

Alright everyone, I’m excited! It might have something to do with having a new little kitten in my household but regardless, the energy and passion I’m feeling at the moment MUST be shared! There are so many damn cool things happening arts and musicwise in our capital city. Let’s jump straight in.

First up, New Territory is an exciting initiative by the Canberra Theatre Centre. In this first year, up to three teams of artists will be invited into the building and offered rent-free use of the spaces, providing full artist fees, and giving access to the expertise of the wonderful CTC staff, in a series of residencies designed to show Canberra, and the rest of the county, just what we are capable of. They’ll be launching guidelines and details about the EOI process very soon. For more information, email: newterritory@ canberratheatrecentre.com.au

The Front is starting up regular music again and is looking for acts. It’s so amazing to see such a beautiful little venue get behind the live music industry and welcome new audiences. If you’re a musician and want to talk to The Front about playing, contact them via their socials or send them an email to management@

One for the dance teachers out there – Belco Arts Centre is inviting professional dance tutors and companies who are interested in devising new programs or individual one-off classes as part of their Dance For Wellbeing program. Programs need to be focused on working through dance towards delivering meaningful wellbeing outcomes (physical, cognitive, and social) for participants. For more information head on over to website: belcoarts.com.au/wellbeing-eoi/

If you’re interested in getting more involved in Canberra’s theatre scene, make sure you get to know the wonderful people at The Street Theatre. There’s an array of opportunities to get involved throughout the year, including locally-made theatre productions. Head over to The Street Theatre website at thestreet.org.au and click on the Artists tab for all the current info about what’s on.

Speaking of The Street, Canberra’s own Jess Green (aka PhEnO) will taking to the stage on Saturday, 10 April. Jess is a seriously accomplished musician who has worked with some of the most recognisable music artists in Australia, including Clare Bowditch, Katie Noonan, Tim Rogers, Deborah Conway and Urthboy. Most recently, Jess collaborated with Patricia Piccinini, creator of the Skywhale, to launch the new addition to these aero-marine creatures, Skywhalepapa, with a beautiful, catchy pop track, We Are The Skywhales. Jess and the PhEnO band will be playing this tune along with many other new songs at the show. Get your tickets now via the Street Theatre website!

Sticking to the theme of women who rock in Canberra music, Bec Taylor has also recently launched a new track, Friend of Mine (available online now). Bec Taylor & The Lyrebirds will be playing at The Hive in Queanbeyan on Good Friday (2 April) and will be supported by Lucy Ridge & The Derby Widows. The show starts at 6pm and tickets can be booked via this link: fb.me/e/1gyPO6LXR

Bec Taylor also runs the amazing Bec Taylor School of Music and has just announced a new Community Rock School program for the LGBTQIA+ community. Participants will get the opportunity to use the incredible facilities at the ANU School of Music and also have the chance to perform at Smith’s Alternative at the end of the program. For more info head to the ANU School of Music website at: https://music.cass.anu.edu.au/community-rocks-lgbtiq-session

A brand new gallery is about to pop up in Sutton, NSW, and the owners want to chat to visual artists hoping to exhibit work. The Village Gallery is currently being set up but if you have work and want to talk about it being shown at this lovely new gallery space, contact Kim via Instagram @villagegallerysutton

Lastly, some of you will know that I run a fortnightly music industry newsletter called Upbeat, jam-packed with music opportunities. The newsletter is sponsored by the awesome team at MusicACT and our audience is growing steadily. To find out more about people in the Canberra music industry and learn about upcoming job, grant, funding and performance opportunities, make sure you’re subscribed! Next issue is sent out on 7 April.

That’s all from me this time, dear reader! See you next issue.

Ruth O’Brien - Singer | Songwriter | Writer | Lover of all things artsy and creative - email: ruth@bmamag.com